OOZ & OZ

Company: OOZ & OZ, Inc., Annandale, VA
Company Description: OOZ & OZ is a multi-award-winning toy company updating a 500-year-old optical amusement device - the anamorphoscope - to share the magic of optical physics with today's techno-savvy kids. Founded in 2001 by Myrna Hoffman, OOZ & OZ's ingenious products have to date earned 10 prestigious toy honors. Ms. Hoffman is the recipient of both national and regional entrepreneurial awards.
Nomination Category: Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneur Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best New Product of the Year

Nomination Title: Mirror-aculous Art Activities Kit

Tell the story of this nominated product (up to 500 words): its function, its features and benefits, and how it differs from competitive offerings. Include in your description the date during the eligibility period of July 1, 2003 - June 30, 2004 on which this product was introduced to the marketplace:

OOZ & OZ® is a multi-award-winning toy company updating a 500-year-old optical amusement device - the anamorphosope - to teach optical physics to today's
techno-savvy children.

Anamorphoscopes are specially curved mirrors that un-distort specially warped pictures, magically reforming their reflections into normal images.

Originally a tool of political artists and spies, the mysterious device so captivated free lance illustrator Myrna Hoffman at a Harvard Museum decades ago, that she was determined to discover its secrets.  Acquiring copies of anamorphic art and classical reference books from public and private collections here and abroad, Hoffman learned how to morph images for her own entertainment.  Passion satisfied, she moved on to other enjoyable art and educational pursuits.

Enter Hoffman's then seven-year-old daughter who wanted a birthday party that was "different."  Hoffman wrapped paper cups in mirrored mylar to serve as the specially curved reflectors and drew anamorphic pictures on placemats for party
goers to color. Children and parents alike were so enthralled with the astonishing visual effects, that they asked for more images.  Hoffman took her cue, formed her company, obtained two utility patents (despite dismissive words from three separate patent firms), and then commissioned mathematicians and software specialists to create a computer program to generate the morphs.

And how did she come up with the name for her company? Hoffman credits all the new fans of anamorphosis. She simply recorded their "oohs and ahhs."

OOZ & OZ presently markets and sells its ingenious Mirror-aculous® kits and table top activities via www.OOZandOZ.com and through select specialty toy stores. In late August 2004, her highly celebrated Mirror-aculous Art Activities Kit will be available on QVC's TV shopping network.

Since July 1, 2003, the Mirror-aculous Art Activities Kit has earned 8 coveted national toy honors:  Dr. Toy 10 Best Creative Products 2003, Dr. Toy 100 Best Childen's Products 2003, The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval 2003, Toy Tips Trusted Mark of Excellence 2003, Creative Child Magazine's Seal of Excellence 2003, Canadian Toy Testing Council's 3-star rating, Great American Toy Test "Best of the Rest" 2003, and The 2004 Official Guide to the Right Toys.
Prior to 2003, the Kit won a Parents' Choice Gold "Doing & Learning" Award, and
"World's Top Ten Activity Toys" from Fun & Games Magazine.

In 2001, Ms. Hoffman was one of three winners (from nearly 9400 entries) of Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Media TV's "Build Your Own Business Contest.  In May of 2004, she was named "Entrepreneurial Success of the Year" by  Washington D.C.'s office of the Small Business Administration.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. You may include links to product photos, service logos, etc. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]:

http://www.oozandoz.com/press.html
http://www.oozandoz.com/awards.html
http://www.OOZandOZ.com

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader of the company that developed this nominated product:

A born artist, inventor, and entrepreneur, Myrna Hoffman was already organizing neighborhood carnivals for charity and earning the first of her many creative awards before the age of 11.

Over the years, Ms. Hoffman has enjoyed a variety of positions in a distinguished career: film animator for WGBH-Boston, free lance technical illustrator at Harvard, MIT, and Boston University, interior designer, archeological artist, and K-12 art eacher.

CEO Hoffman is now busy in her Annandale, Virginia home office/studio growing OOZ & OZ's line of unique, award-winning, anamorphic teaching toys.

She is the mother of Nell Hana, 21.